Martoons

Tomorrow: Fred meets Miss No and makes a decision.

Cast of characters

Fred

Master Lee

Miss No

*

Visiting Korea was one thing, but working there?

That depth of commitment made Fred’s mind change gears.

He was hesitant given the mixed success of Master’s contacts so far.

Recruiting had left Fred in the red, having spent several hundred hard-earned and scarce dollars placing ads for candidates, and then buying them coffee and lunch at interviews.

And, of course, he hadn’t collected a cent.

Nevertheless, Master was very eager to help him.

* Will Master Lee persuade him? *

“I already tell my friend about you,” Master said.

“She want meeting you. She will make special trip to Canada to recruit foreigner.”

He paused and sighed.

“I feel bad you receive no money for Thomas but try to understand: Many Koreans are not comfortable dealing with foreigner.

You must be patient.

“So, my friend coming here will pay me $1000 if I introduce you and I will give you half. Then you will have some money for Korea.”

“And, if you sign her contract, your flight paid for.”

“It is part of contract.”

“Hmmm.”

“Good situation!” Master laughed wholeheartedly.

Fred grinned but still wasn’t sure he wanted to take the big dive.

He thought about it over the next few days and with still no work in sight and a pile of bills on his fridge, he really didn’t have much to lose.

He did up a resume and Master let him use the fax machine at the gym office to send it off to the friend in Korea.

Personal connections are everything in Korea.

By the time Fred got back home on his bike an hour later, he’d already gotten a call back on his answering machine.

That was fast–a little too fast!

It made him a tad nervous.

Nevertheless, the interview was slated for the following week at Master Lee’s gym, in one of the boardrooms.

Fred was relieved – at least he knew the building because he’d been there.

* More Korean oddities for Fred: Korean privacy rituals *

The staff welcomed him this time.

Master wasn’t there for the interview, and Fred found that a bit strange.

However, Mrs Lee showed him into the boardroom where a very sharply-dressed woman in her late twenties was waiting.

She introduced herself as Miss No.

“Yes, yes,” Fred responded. “We spoke over the phone recently.”

He flashed-back to that upsetting call he’d made from the parkade a while back, where she’d denied knowing Thomas.

Maybe it’s a Korean privacy thing.

Miss No responded only with a pasted smile and quickly moved on, perusing the curled-up, faxed copy of his resume.

Without looking up she said, “Master Lee says you are a very good, honest man.”

She continued pouring over the resume. “So, what do you know about Korea? Did you know that Koreans are very curious about foreigners? They will stare at you. Are you ready for that?”

* Does Miss No seem trustworthy? *

Fred shrugged.

No: “North Korea and South Korea are still technically at war. Does that concern you?”

Fred was thinking how to properly answer her question when she fired another one at him.

“We own several Englishy schools. Do you want to live in a big city or small town?”

“Which one does my friend Thomas work at?”

Miss No didn’t seem to hear and there was an unnerving chill in the air.

Fred didn’t want to lose the job.

“Small town please,” he finally said after a few excruciating seconds.

“I want to walk to work, and learn about Korean culture. I figure folks in a small town will have more time to chat so I can improve my Korean language.”

He liked the sound of his answer and Miss No nodded agreeably and decisively wrote some notes.

“Good idea. You will enjoy Korea.”

She quickly shuffled some papers and started to get up. “Congratulations! You are going to Korea.”

As she got her things together, she casually placed a document on the table in front of Fred.

He saw that it was a contract.

She turned it to the last page and pointed to a dotted line.

Fred: “Shouldn’t I read this first, being a contract and all?”

She waved him off. “I am very busy. You can read it later. If there is some problem, contact me.”

She broke eye contact with him.

With that sign-your-life-away feeling, Fred autographed the document.

No snapped it up, folded it and put it in her briefcase.

“Nice to meet you.”

Before Fred could blink, she was gone.

*

Tomorrow: Fred finally responds to Donna